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Report: Iran's central bank head ordered dismissed

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran's official IRNA news agency is reporting that an Iranian court has voted to dismiss nation's central bank governor in connection with overnight withdrawals from banks.

IRNA is quoting Rahmatollah Sharif, the spokesman for the Supreme Court of Audit, as saying that Mahmoud Bahmani has 20 days to appeal the ruling.

He allegedly ordered illegal withdrawals of money from the country's banking system. The money was related to the difference between the official and open market rates to change Iranian rials into U.S. dollars.

Some Iranian newspapers claimed that the money might have been withdrawn to pay cash handouts to Iranians in compensation for food and energy subsidy cuts that began in 2010.

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